Safe Ride sprung to a new record of 1,019 passengers last Thursday, the first day of Spring Fling.

Traditionally, Spring Fling Thursday is the biggest night of the year for Safe Ride, according to Chris Wozny, Safe Ride administrative director.

Around 840 people used Safe Ride in 2008 during the first day of Spring Fling and last year 935 utilized the service on the same date, he said.

“”We didn’t just want to break the record this year, we wanted to get into the quadruple digits,”” Wozny said.

To meet the goal, Safe Ride generated hype through social media and eased up on usual Safe Ride rules.

Safe Ride eliminated the maximum number of three people per call. There was also no limit on the number of destinations each of the 13 vehicles used were allowed to serve.

In addition, Safe Ride did not cut off the boundaries 20 minutes before the shift is over, allowing people to go to more destinations late at night.

Safe Ride staff didn’t find out about the results until around 1:30 a.m., when they all went back to the office, Wozny said, noting that people back at the office tried to trick those coming back saying they would be disappointed.

“”I was quite ecstatic. I gave quite a shout when I saw that we broke the record,”” he said.